Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1640

Everything he could see was red.

Everything was red. Maybe this was not the right feeling to have right now.

It was a new moon night, so dark even the moon was hidden. But the night was bright red with fire. The flames were wild and strange, burning into Ho Gamyung’s eyes like a hot mark.

He heard screams, cries of pain, and sounds of sadness all mixed together.

The fire burned hotter, eating everything. It was like the sun had left the sky and fallen to the ground here.

Ho Gamyung stared at the flames, not really seeing anything. He suddenly thought it was all so silly.

Was it really this easy? Could it be done so simply? It was hard to understand. After doing so many bad things, had they really not thought someone would come for them?

They hadn’t even imagined that someone might target them, even though they had made so many people angry.

The silliness of it all made Ho Gamyung laugh weakly.

“Aaaargh!”

Another scream cut through the air, full of clear terror and anger at being treated unfairly.

What was unfair? Think of all the people they hurt. Even being ripped apart would not be enough punishment. What was so different between the world they lived in and the world he had lived in?

The sharp smoke burned his nose. The mixed smell of blood made him sick. It felt like it was soaking into his skin, not just his clothes.

“Ugh! Aargh!”

Then he heard a voice full of hate. Ho Gamyung turned to see Jang Il-so walking out through the wide-open gates of the manor, dragging someone by the hair.

“Le-let go… Let go, you evil man! Do you even know who I am?”

A fat old man, flailing and struggling to remove the hand gripping his hair. Ho Gamyung knew exactly who he was.

Jang Il-so asked simply, “Is this the person you wanted?”

Ho Gamyung nodded slowly, his gaze never leaving the old man.

Jang Il-so tossed the man he was holding towards Ho Gamyung like a discarded object.

Thud!

“Ugh… Ugh…”

The old man groaned, lifting his head slowly and finally saw who was standing there.

“Yo-you are…”

His eyes showed quick sadness, deep failure, a little fear, and confusion. But just for a second. Then his eyes burned with anger again.

“Who are you?”

“……”

Ho Gamyung was stunned for a moment, unable to speak. When someone is very angry, they often stop thinking clearly.

The old man, now even more proud, became very angry.

“You, you bad man! Do you think you can just do this and escape!”

He did not know. He did not know who he was, or who Ho Gamyung was.

He hadn’t expected forgiveness, but he had at least believed that the man would recognize him.

Maybe he thought the man would be careful of Ho Gamyung, who might one day become stronger and want revenge.

Ho Gamyung had thought about this moment a lot. He had planned what to say about his connection to the prince, and even plans to stop anything this man might try to do.

But at this moment, all of it became meaningless.

“No, I don’t care who you are. You look like you can read, so you must know who I am. You must know how foolish and silly this is!”

Ho Gamyung ended up letting out a hollow laugh.

He wasn’t lying. The old man really didn’t know. Even now, he didn’t understand that Ho Gamyung was in control.

“Royal Teacher…”

How could he not know?

Even if his fame was fake, he had learned so much to be called the King’s Teacher. He had lived through many tough fights for power in the palace for years.

So how could he not even understand his own situation and say such silly things?

The more he thought about it, the more laughter escaped him.

Yes, it made sense. People never think they can be killed by something small, like an ant bite. Even if an ant bites them, they’d look for a bigger reason why they are dying.

To this old man, Ho Gamyung and his family were nothing more than insignificant ants, nothing more and nothing less.

So he had slept well, not even being careful, after hurting his family, his home. Because people think ants can’t get revenge.

“It’s not too late. If you stop now and beg me to forgive you, I might let you live!”

“……”

“But if you don’t, I will have you and your whole family tortured in the worst way possible! This is not just an empty threat! Do you understand?”

Ho Gamyung laughed.

No, he wept.

His family had to suffer like this because of this man, because of his greed, this worthless person? Just because?

The Royal Teacher, who Ho Gamyung used to admire when he learned from the teachings of wise men, had seemed so noble and important. But now, seeing him like a beast, the Royal Teacher was just a disgustingly fat, ugly old man.

Finally, Ho Gamyung spoke.

“How will you destroy me?”

“What?”

“My relatives have already been killed by your hand. How will you destroy me? Will you dig up their graves and trample on their bones?”

The Royal Teacher’s eyes quickly showed something.

“I pity you, Royal Teacher.”

“Yo-you…”

The old man began to tremble. He realized now that none of the methods he possessed would work on Ho Gamyung.

The eyes that were full of greed and pride now started to look around in fear.

“Wa-wait! Wait a moment! What do you want?”

“……”

“I can give it to you. I can give you anything. Important job! Wealth! Power! Pleasure! Whatever it is, I can give it to you! But if I die, you will be hunted for the rest of your life! Don’t you know that?”

When Ho Gamyung’s expression didn’t change, the desperate old man crawled on all fours and clung to his trouser leg.

“Think carefully! You can’t get back what’s already gone.”

A desperate plea, so sincere, almost innocent, showed in the old man’s eyes. Ho Gamyung, looking down at him coldly, said.

“What’s the point of surviving like that?”

“……”

“Your family and relatives have already been beheaded. What are you going to do, living alone like that, just waiting for the day you die of old age? Wouldn’t it be better to die here with dignity?”

The Royal Teacher’s face twisted angrily.

“Nonsense! What’s the meaning of family or relatives!”

“……”

“They only have meaning because I exist! What value do they have without me! I can make a new family if I just stay alive. If I don’t lose my power!”

Ho Gamyung knew what to call the thing moving around in the old man’s eyes.

To think that this man, once respected by many wise scholars and people, held onto until the very end was just greed. Only desire.

“So let me live! You’ve lost your family too! I’m the same. So why don’t we become family?”

“Family?”

Thinking that this was working, the old man nodded strongly.

“Become my adopted son! Then you’ll get all my money and power. Then you can bring back respect to your family and let them rest in peace, right?”

The grip of the old man’s hand on Ho Gamyung’s trouser leg tightened. Ho Gamyung simply stared blankly at that hand.

It wasn’t Ho Gamyung who answered the offer. It was someone else.

Thunk.

Something landed near Ho Gamyung.

He turned and saw a dagger in the ground.

“Not a bad offer, wouldn’t you say?”

Ho Gamyung picked up the dagger and stared at the person who had spoken, Jang Il-so.

“You said it’s not a bad offer?”

“Don’t you think so?”

Jang Il-so twisted his lips in a mocking smile.

“You might not trust him, but I think the offer is real. A guy like that doesn’t really stay angry. Now that his family is dead, he needs a smart young man to take care of his money and look after him, right?”

“……”

“No matter how much revenge you get, you can’t bring back what’s gone. A dead person is just dead, and they won’t care about your revenge after death. So all you’ll have left is your weak anger.”

Jang Il-so said scornfully, “Looks like you got a really good offer to forget about your anger.”

Ho Gamyung, closely watching Jang Il-so, asked, “Are you okay with this?”

“I just need to get paid.”

Jang Il-so’s mouth twisted up.

“If you finish things here, I won’t have to worry about what happens later. Wasn’t that our original plan?”

“……”

Ho Gamyung’s gaze turned back to the Royal Teacher.

The Royal Teacher was still desperately looking only at Ho Gamyung. There was a clear hope in his eyes that hadn’t been there a moment ago. The hope that Ho Gamyung might accept his offer.

After a moment of silence, Ho Gamyung spoke.

“…It’s a good offer.”

“Th-then…!”

“Thanks to you, I now know for sure what I did wrong. How foolish I was.”

The Royal Teacher’s eyes shook.

“Royal Teacher, remember this. My name is Ho Gamyung.”

“Ho, Ho Ga…”

And it was at that very moment.

Whoosh!

Crack!

The dagger that Ho Gamyung swung like lightning pierced the Royal Teacher’s shoulder.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!”

A desperate scream burst out of the Royal Teacher’s mouth. Each time the dagger twisted in his shoulder, blood splashed without stopping onto Ho Gamyung’s face.

“You were going to pay me with something like that? With that kind of thing?”

“A-ack! Aaaaargh!”

Ho Gamyung grabbed the Royal Teacher’s messy hair.

“Remember this well, Royal Teacher.”

Ho Gamyung’s bloodshot eyes stared directly into the Royal Teacher’s tearful eyes. The venom in his eyes seemed ready to burn and melt the Royal Teacher at any moment.

“A deal can only be made when both sides offer something attractive. Not when you offer something you think is valuable.”

Whoosh.

Ho Gamyung pulled the dagger out of the Royal Teacher’s shoulder and held it backwards.

A great, strong sadness showed in the Royal Teacher’s eyes as he looked at the dagger stained with his own blood.

“P-please…”

“Sixty-seven years of life. From now on, I’ll make you understand the pain they felt. So please…”

“Spare…”

Ho Gamyung’s eyes, angry and full of hate, burned brightly.

“Don’t die so easily.”

Whoosh!

The dagger pierced the Royal Teacher’s abdomen.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!”